The documented culinary adventure of a toddler and a professional chef

About

I am a professional cook and mother of two. I used to run busy NY restaurants but now my daughters run me. I despise processed food and am obsessed with discovering delicious things that are sophisticated yet still kid-friendly.

What I cooked in restaurants is not at all what I cook at home. First off there is not a dishwasher, human or machine, and that definitely influences the amount of pans, bowls and tools I’m willing to use daily. I’m a cook, not a sadist. Still, it helps to approach any cooking session like a professional, whether from a technique point of view or by just incorporating tips and tricks to be more efficient and make an otherwise simple dish’s flavors shine.

Secondly, although I love my share of bacon, butter and fried food, we generally try to eat a healthy diet at home. Which in my opinion, can contain the aforementioned evils in moderation. If you cut out all the processed crap and factory farming disasters that are so prevalent in our food supply, the body will be able to metabolize things like falafel or cream of broccoli soup just fine. Unless of course you have a particular sensitivity to one of those foods.

As parents today we are faced with different issues than our parents were. Most moms have to work, and don’t have the time to cook at home. The products that we have now come to trust and rely on contain more manufactured ingredients than before along with so many ingredients that we don’t know all that much about because they haven’t been around that long. Yes, there are always two points of view: the people who stand to profit and the skeptics. I think we really don’t know what the long-term effects of things like processed foods and GMO’s hae on adult bodies, much less a delicate child’s developing one.

Collectively as a nation our health status is in the toilet. I believe it’s not because of chocolate chip cookies or the occasional alfredo sauce here and there, but rather chocolate chip cookies made with high fructose corn syrup from GMO corn, hydrogenated oils, and butter (if you are lucky) from cows that are eating diets they were never intended to and are barely surviving. It’s from eating beef that have never tasted grass or even seen it much less, and chicken nuggets that contain more GMO corn than chicken. I also believe that it is our responsibility as parents to shape our child’s tastes when they are young, so that they grow up thinking that a real pea purée is what tastes good and not a brown mushy compote from a jar.

This blog was born because of the countless calls I receive from friends wanting cooking advice that I am more than happy to give. These photos are not overly styled. I am a mom of two and this is dinner. If this is all new to you than hopefully I can inspire you to become interested in the topic and seek out more information on your own. Though it’s impossible to be perfect it is possible to make the best choices you can. And cook some yummy food along the way.